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Wally for kurt thomas

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At first glance this deal would make no sense for the knicks if you think about a little longer it does. Wally is a tremendous shooter. We need great shooters on this team because when marbury drives and dishes out we ne someone who can hit the shot. With allan a question mark at least we have one pure shooter. Also allan doesnt have much time left and wally is only 26 and could be a big part of their future and plus kurt is going to be 33. Also you could push tim thomas to the 4 spot every once in a while and have 4 scorers. With all the injuries the knicks have had in the playoffs it would make me feel good to have all this depth. and as far as kurt goes, he is disgruntled and aging. Sweet is ready to take over. and if he is not we have a baker and junkyard as well

The Nets' interest in trading Jason Kidd has moved the Knicks closer to exchanging Kurt Thomas for Wally Szczerbiak, according to several NBA sources.

In a three-way scenario shaped by the Minnesota Timberwolves' desire to land Kidd, the Knicks would send Thomas to the Nets and end up with Minnesota's Szczerbiak and New Jersey's Aaron Williams. The Nets also would land the Timberwolves' Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson as compensation for shipping out Kidd, who is coming off knee surgery and has $90 million left on the $103 million contract he signed last summer.

Isiah Thomas has little love for Kurt Thomas' game and has coveted Szczerbiak, a Long Island native who has long expressed his desire to play for his hometown team. But even though the pure-shooting Szczerbiak would give the Knicks insurance against Allan Houston's knee problems, Minnesota is the team driving this potential deal.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor has charged his GM, Kevin McHale, to acquire Kidd, according to an NBA executive involved in the talks, and the Nets' All-Star point guard has told management he would accept a trade to Minnesota. With Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles jettisoned in the purge ordered by new owner Bruce Ratner, and with the Nets staring at a series of bleak lame-duck seasons in the Meadowlands before moving to Brooklyn, Kidd wants out in the worst way.

"But is anyone willing to take him and the $90 million after knee surgery?" said one NBA executive with knowledge of the talks. "I wouldn't buy a racehorse that couldn't run, even if it was the greatest racehorse of all time."

Minnesota apparently believes a Kidd-Kevin Garnett-Latrell Sprewell combination would win a Western Conference race left wide open by the dismantling of the Lakers. The Timberwolves talked to the Trail Blazers about acquiring Shareef Abdur-Rahim, whom McHale could've traded to the Nets for Kidd (Abdur-Rahim and Nets coach Lawrence Frank have a good relationship stemming from their time together in Vancouver). Portland also talked directly to the Nets about a Kidd-for-Abdur-Rahim exchange, with the Nets inquiring about the Blazers' No. 1 pick, Brooklyn high school star Sebastian Telfair.

But the Blazers aren't sure Kidd would guarantee them a top playoff seed in the West, and right now don't want to pay $180 million (including luxury-tax charges) to find out. That leaves Minnesota to pick up the ball and search for willing trade partners who can make something work with the Nets.

To take on Szczerbiak and Williams, the Knicks would have to rid themselves of another salary in addition to Thomas'. Isiah Thomas is hoping against hope to convince someone to take Moochie Norris or Shandon Anderson off his hands.

"This deal is within the realm of possibility," confirmed an official familiar with Isiah Thomas' thinking. "But when you have this many players and contracts involved, so many things can change."

Note: The Nets waived veteran guard Lucious Harris, one of Kidd's closest friends on the team, but his departure was long anticipated. Harris is believed to have accepted a $1 million buyout of the remaining $2.6 million on his contract.

At first glance this deal would make no sense for the knicks if you think about a little longer it does. Wally is a tremendous shooter. We need great shooters on this team because when marbury drives and dishes out we ne someone who can hit the shot. With allan a question mark at least we have one pure shooter. Also allan doesnt have much time left and wally is only 26 and could be a big part of their future and plus kurt is going to be 33. Also you could push tim thomas to the 4 spot every once in a while and have 4 scorers. With all the injuries the knicks have had in the playoffs it would make me feel good to have all this depth. and as far as kurt goes, he is disgruntled and aging. Sweet is ready to take over. and if he is not we have a baker and junkyard as well

The only way I would take that deal would be if Anderson was included in it.

Agreed. Maybe even Moochie too.

Rick, your argument has almost sold me on the deal, if it does go through. But then again, as young as Wally is, he has had some injury problems which would lead me to hesitate on the deal. We would also be getting alot smaller in the deal if we ship away KT, who if he stays aboard this season will probably see more time at the 5. I guess I'm borderline on the deal now, as opposed to being against it when the rumors first surfaced.

I think at this stage of their respective careers, you can get more minutes out of Thomas--plus, Thomas can still be a starter, unlike Wally.

Thursday Plug: If you're in the listening area (and it's bigger than I thought), please tune in and call in about the Knicks to my Commercial-Free Sports Talk radio show tonight from 9PM to 11PM on Long Island's 90.3 FM. Thanks!

I personally am intrigued with this trade idea. Someone mentioned above that Kurt cost's too much. I think that is 100% untrue. I think we signed Kurt to that extension last year at below his market value. Come on, Adonial Foyle and Brian Cardinal both signed $40mill/plus contracts this offseason. Kurts was 5 years at under $30mil. Very reasonable by today's NBA standards for a player of Kurts ability.

As far as the trade goes as rumored, remember we would also be getting Aaron Williams who is a solid piece of beef in the middle, and I believe I saw him play a little center while on NJ. The time for Sweetney is here. If not, like mentioned above, we have Jerome Williams, Vin Baker and would have Aaron Williams to play PF. That is still plenty of depth. I am unsure where Wally fits in at this point, but the EYE may have plans to move Tim Thomas later leaving the starting SF position open. Wally is much younger and very talented.

I am still not quite sure I would pull the trigger yet, but if we could dump Shandon Anderson in the deal, my finger if near the trigger....

Why Wally? This is a guy who once the Timberwolves bannished to the bench, started to make head way. He's never played five minutes of Defense either. Wally is a comple sieve. So what! The guy can hit an open jumper, so can Allan Houston. If Allan's not healthy, then others will have to step up. I hate Szczerbiak's lack of game. He doesn't rebound, steal or block shots. If Minnesota considers themselves contenders, why are they so anxious to part ways with Wally. Simple, He's Shandon Anderson in reverse. All offesnse, zero defense...Huge Contract. The only way you swing this if we can parlay Wally and others in Vince Carter. Period. Newmove is right, the Knicks need some down low presence, they can't be just a perimeter team. No real contender is. The Knicks were horrible at rebounding last year. let's secure some guys that will do that. If everyone's looking to score, who's gonna play D?

Rick, your argument has almost sold me on the deal, if it does go through. But then again, as young as Wally is, he has had some injury problems which would lead me to hesitate on the deal. We would also be getting alot smaller in the deal if we ship away KT, who if he stays aboard this season will probably see more time at the 5. I guess I'm borderline on the deal now, as opposed to being against it when the rumors first surfaced.

What many people dont know is that wally has had an injury riddled last couple of years, and i hear people complaining how houston is so injury prone, houston had injuries for only 1 year, while wally has missed many more games due to injury, just wanted to point that out

As far as salary goes, the deal that is in place right now would also send out shandon (realgm.com). Which would even out any money issues. Wally is 100% healthy right now and having known him since he was in 9th grade he never had injury problems and just caught a bad string of luck lately. Plantar fascitis is not a very serious injury but an annoying one that plaques athletes now and then (ala rice and camby). Houston however has had surgery. After surgery it is a different story. Those of you who are expecting houston to be 100% again and go back to playing 82 a season might be disappointed. Knee surgery is a serious thing and allan will continue to be bothered by it for the remainder of the year. Wally will be great insurance and take the pressure off allan as the only shooter on the team

personally i still think we need a big man,and not get rid of one.and i thought crawford was the answer to houston's knees.do we need wally? no. i dont think so. but maybe isiah is getting him to try and get the big man we need. is theo ratliff available? he is good at rebounding. why not get him and shareef? wally is just as,if not more,injury prone as allan. just my thoughts

I agree that this trade would hurt the Knicks in the middle. Typically, I'm about defense and rebounding before offense. This trade however, is one that I would support. It's no secret that Kurt Thomas isn't happy playing on the Knicks, and doesn't get along well with Marbury. Chemistry is a must, if you have players that don't want to be around, it hurts the overall chemistry on the team.

Plus anything that can ship out scrubs: Shandon Anderson, and or Moochie Norris.. is a HuGe relief........